Reports issued by the “Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization” and the “Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria” revealed the continuation of violations against the Kurdish indigenous population in the occupied Afrin region, including arson, the seizure of property, the imposition of royalties, the establishment of checkpoints, and the kidnapping of citizens on flimsy charges. The details of the reports are as follows:
Artificial fires threaten the mountains of Darwish village in the countryside of Afrin
– Connect?FiresWhich erupted on the evening of Thursday, August 21, 2025 in the mountains of the village of Darwish (Dêwrîş) opposite the village of Hajikli (ाecîka) in the Rajo sub-district in the countryside of Afrin, where the mountainous area is “consumed by fire,” according to the report of the “Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization.”
The report pointed to repeated appeals by firefighting and civil defense teams for urgent intervention, relayed by the “Afrin Now site”, but the difficulty of the vehicles’ access to the area because of its mountainous nature and the ruggedness of the roads led to the spread of heavy fire, as “the flames rose to the sky.”
The report stressed that these fires “are usually fabricated by the remnants of settlers and militants in order to log and manufacture charcoal to be traded in local markets,” according to the organization.
Seizing Kurdish property and imposing royalties under the pretext of “public security
The report of the “Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization” revealed the continuation of the “economic offices” of factions formerly known as the “Syrian National Army” supported by Turkey in seizing the property of the Kurdish population and imposing royalties on them in the Afrin region, despite the announcement of the dissolution of these offices and their replacement by the “General Security” apparatus.
In Bulbul sub-district:Local sources reported that Rabie, a leader of the Hamzat Economic Division and from the countryside of Idlib, is seizing more than 10,000 olive trees in the villages of Abla, Kirikul, Bibaka, and Khalilka. In the village of Abla alone, it seizes more than two thousand olive trees belonging to forcibly displaced Kurdish citizens, namely: Ismail Medawar, Jumaa Lou, Nouri Ahmed, Ihsan Ahmed, Qassem Nouri, Khalil Maamou, Fouad Medawar, and Dar Maamou. Despite the people’s demand for the return of their property and the submission of proofs, Rabie refused to hand over on the grounds that he had “cultivated the fields and swept the trees eight years ago” after the occupation of Afrin in March 2018, threatening to punish those who file a complaint against him.
In the villages of Sharan and Bulbul:Abu al-Sheikh Zarbawi, 42, from the town of Zerba in the western countryside of Aleppo, one of the leaders of the elite army faction, seizes more than 50,000 olive trees in the villages of Derqalia, Elija, Saarangkeh, Abudan, and Sheikh Khurz. He also occupies a villa in the village of Derqalia surrounded by guards who prevent the passage of the people, and seizes the “Rukan Mill” in the village, turning it into a horse breeding shed. Despite the residents’ submission of their ownership documents to the Economic Office in Sharan, the elements procrastinate in handing over the property pending the harvest of crops, ignoring the decisions of the General Security to return the property to its owners.
In Ma ‘abtali sub-district:Abu Shadi, a former leader of the Northern Hawks faction, demanded the people of Afrazah village to submit documents of ownership of olive trees, in “impose control over crops and confiscate them,” according to the report. It was repeated in the villages of Bika, Shinkel, and Zaara in Bulbul sub-district. Ahmed Abboud, from Al-Hamzat Economics, also attended the agricultural office in Ma ‘abtali, demanding the mayors of the villages of Sari Ushaghi, Rahmaniyah, and Hamlourk to hand over the names of agricultural agencies, which the people considered a step to legitimize organized looting.
The report stressed that these practices show that “public security” is only a “formality”, while “the policy of occupation and the factions supported by it” continues to “loot, blackmail, and systematically harass the indigenous population.”
The checkpoints of the factions continue in the countryside of Afrin under the name of “General Security”
The report of the “Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization” reported the continued establishment of checkpoints by the factions that were known as the “Syrian National Army” supported by Turkey, which now operates under the name of “General Security” in the countryside of Afrin.
According to local sources, a new checkpoint has been set up at the junction of the villages of Jalma, Tal Slur, and Diwan in Jindeers sub-district, where the checkpoint members claim to belong to the “General Security” while they are actually affiliated with the Turkish-backed factions. The report indicated that the elements search the cars and check the identities of the passengers, especially the young people coming from the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo, and charge them with “false accusations” of belonging to “Hezbollah”, before disembarking them from the cars and subjecting them to investigation and insults with”immoral words”.
Kidnapping of a Kurdish youth in Afrin on flimsy charges
The Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria documented the kidnapping of a young Kurdish man, Hussein Kamal Sheikho, from Musako village in Rajo sub-district, in the countryside of Afrin, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, near the Qabban roundabout in the city of Afrin. The kidnapping was carried out by gunmen from the factions that were known as the Syrian National Army, and are currently under the authority of the General Security in Damascus.
Hussein, who returned to Afrin two months ago from Turkey, was working on a generator project, and his fate is still unknown. The center pointed out that this incident comes within the framework of “tightening the noose on Kurdish citizens” in the region on “flimsy charges.”
These reports confirm the continuation of violations against the Kurdish population in Afrin, amid accusations of Turkish-backed factions seeking to displace them and confiscate their property under flimsy pretexts, despite attempts to present “public security” as a reformist front.
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Note: This is a machine translation of the original text in Arabic.اقرأ المزيد